Anyone use cocoa nibs? I am thinking of racking a porter to secondary onto some nibs. I was thinking 8oz of nibs for a week or two. Any idea if this is a good approach? Is one week long enough? Is two weeks too long? Is 8oz enough or too much? Do the nibs settle or float and are they an issue when bottling?

I know there is no exact answer/science to this, but any general guidelines would be appreciated. Thanks!

6-8oz of nibs for two weeks is a pretty standard amount for Chocolate Stouts. I'm not sure what the "chocolate flavor vs. time in secondary" plot would look like, but just be aware that the chocolate flavor will likely be very evident in your Porter if you use 8oz.

As an aside, I've read that soaking the nibs in alchohol (vodka) overnight and then dumping the vodka+nibs into your secondary will help to maximize the efficiency of extracting the flavorful oils.

I did it last year for the 8-8-8 Imperial Stout many HBT members made.

I used 4oz in secondary for at least 3 weeks (don't remember the exact time). Noticeable chocolate flavor for sure.

The way I prepared them, and I honestly don't know if this made any difference was to break them up in a coffee grinder slightly and then roast in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. I figured this would kill anything bad on them and that the roast flavor would carry over. Again, not sure how much of an effect this really had.

I would personally have problem dumping 4-6 oz in porter. I might stay on the lower side unless you really want the chocolate to dominate.

Edit: I think most of the nibs did settle, but again poor notes. Cold crashing before bottling or kegging for a couple days should drop out the rest.

Nibs will work. Not exactly the best source of chocolate flavor. Cocoa powder is much more "pure cocoa" than nibs. Also on the nibs, I'd stay away from roasting them to sanitize. Nibs are the dehusked, roasted seeds from the cacao plant.

Nibs work great. I added 2 oz into a Porter and thought that tiny touch of Chocolate did a wonderful job. I did not sanitize and used them like I was dry hopping.

I've tried Cocoa powder with so so results (seemed kind of grainy)- not what I was hoping for but from what I have read everyone has their own theories and techniques.

Just covering my ass so Edcculus does not come and beat me! LOL

You know, I've seen a lot of people posting that nibs seem to work better than powder. Now that just doesn't make sense. Maybe the powder is just too much. If you think about it, a chocolate bar has both cocoa butter and powder. Maybe that fat needs to be there to really convey the chocolate flavor.